The Right to Stop the Wall

We call upon the international community, including diplomatic missions in the occupied Palestinian territory and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to intervene with Israel for:

• The immediate release of all Palestinian human rights defenders (HRD);
• An end to the Israeli practice of arbitrary detention;
• Full adherence to the ICCPR as applied to the Palestinian population in the OPT; and,
• Full respect of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

In addition, we call upon members of the European Union and Norway to fully comply with the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders and the Norwegian Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders; develop and adopt an effective strategy aiming to provide protection to Palestinian human rights defenders working in the OPT and Israel, by:

• Regularly attending trials of Palestinian HRD who are held in detention. Exert pressure on the Israeli Military Court of Administrative Detainees to attend closed hearings of HRD held in administrative detention. Additionally, establish rotation routines for trial observation on behalf of the local Presidency;
• Regularly visit HRD in custody prior to trial;
• Ensure a permanent and institutionalized presence of EU monitors in areas where human rights are violated on a regular basis to prevent the arbitrary arrest of Palestinian HRD. These areas include: villages affected by the Annexation Wall; parts of East Jerusalem, where houses are at risk of demolition and families are at risk of eviction; and, Palestinian villages located near settlements. Additionally, ensure EU presence at all house demolitions or evictions in East Jerusalem.
• Issue public statements condemning the arbitrary arrest and detention of HRD;
• Raise specific cases of HRD in detention with the Israeli authorities under the EU-Israel political dialogue.

We further call upon states and multi-state bodies to develop adequate mechanisms to hold Israel accountable for its repression of human rights defenders and violations of human rights, including:

• Effective mechanisms to ensure the respect for the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the illegality of the Wall, adopted by the UN General Assembly in resolution ES-10/15.
• Review of existing agreements cooperation and free trade agreements with Israel and conditioning of any ratification processes, future negotiations and action plans of such agreements on Israel’s upholding of international law and respect for human rights, including its cessation of the harassment and detention of human rights defenders.